Bräunlein

copy Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden 2009 DOI 101163156848409X12526657425262

Asian Journal of Social Science 37 (2009) 892ndash917 brillnlajss

Negotiating Charisma Th e Social Dimension of Philippine Crucifi xion Rituals

Peter J BraumlunleinUniversity of Bremen

AbstractTh e Philippines are the only predominantly Christian nation in Southeast Asia Th e tradition of the passion of Christ is supposed to be the centre of Philippine religiousness and the fascination with the suff ering battered and dead Christ can be regarded as a characteristic feature of Philip-pine lowland society Th e most spectacular expressions of the so-called Philippine lsquoCalvary Catholicismrsquo are fl agellation and crucifi xion In 1996minus1998 the author studied Philippine pas-sion rituals in the village of Kapitangan During the Holy Week thousands of people mostly from Manila visit the church and observe the spectacle of ritual crucifi xions on Good Friday in the churchyard In Kapitangan mostly women are nailed to the cross which is however is not an act of volition Th ey act under directions lsquofrom aboversquo possessed by Sto Nintildeo or Jesus Naza-reno All of them are (faith-)healers All of them are founders of a religious movement In this article the author uses Ernst Troeltschrsquos typology mdash church sect mysticism mdash as a tool to raise questions about ritual crucifi xion as a focus of community and collective identity formation both on the local and national level of society Troeltschrsquos typology sheds light on the delicate relation between the Philippine lsquooffi cialrsquo church and practices of the so-called lsquofolk-Catholicismrsquo It illuminates motives and aims of the healers who are called lsquonew mysticsrsquo by some scholars and the sense of belonging of their followers It also reveals discourses of consent and dissent among the spectators and general public provoked by that literal re-enactment of Jesusrsquo death

KeywordsPhilippines Catholicism crucifi xion identity formation New Religious Movements faith-healing

In the years 1996minus1998 I carried out anthropological fi eldwork on Philippine passion rituals1 Th e research area the province of Bulacan is socio-politically

1 My fi eld research was part of the research project ldquoPhilippine Passion Ritualsrdquo at the Depart-ment of the Study of Religion of the University of Bremen Germany Th e research was sup-ported by a grant from the DFG (German Research Society) In the Philippines I was kindly accepted as a research affi liate of the IPC (Institute of Philippine Culture) at the Ateneo de Manila University Quezon City I would like to express my gratitude to Noel Salcedo research assistant and friend in Bulacan to Jan Oberg assistant and friend in Bremen to all of my inter-view-partners especially to Lucy Reyes in the Province of Bulacan and to Hans Kippenberg for

P J Braumlunlein Asian Journal of Social Science 37 (2009) 892ndash917 893

and economically part of the continually-expanding capital Manila Many Bulacentildeos are working in Manila and commute daily Th ereby they increas-ingly join the middle-class Manilentildeos who tend to escape the unbearable urban conditions and settle in housing projects outside of the overcrowded and heavily polluted mega-city In many families at least one member lives abroad to earn money as for instance an overseas contract worker (OCW) a domestic helper or simply a marriage migrant Financial remittances from Saudi Arabia or Singapore are considered usual transactions Th e same counts for telephone calls from Italy or Israel Bulacan is considered as a prosperous province with a bright future not only by politicians but by the general public as well At the beginning of the fi eldwork I found myself in a setting which was anything but tribal Th e growing number of huge shopping malls daily traffi c jams (even in small provincial towns) omnipresent advertisement ban-ners advertising computer classes off ered by local high schools the spread of internet cafes where the new era of global communication was celebrated by enthusiastic teenagers mdash all these manifestations of the economic lsquotake off rsquo stood in sharp contrast to the phenomena which I intended to study in the very same area Bloody rituals of crucifi xion self-fl agellation and other forms of religiously-motivated self-mortifi cation seemed not to belong to the late modern era but were clearly relics of an archaic pre-modern Catholicism By presupposing such a perspective I have to confess frankly that I was infl u-enced by a common characterisation of Catholicism designed by Protestant polemics in 19th century Europe It declared Catholicism as an anti-modern force within the period of European industrialisation Th e anti-Catholic pro-paganda announced that Catholicism is unable to cope with modernity since it is less rational than Protestant Christianity essentially magical in nature and still propagating the cult of saints and miracles in times of social dislocation and miserable working conditions Th e portrait of Catholic Christianity as backward and medieval in character was scientifi cally perpetuated by Max Weber amongst others He considered the Catholic Communion the practice of confession and the absolution as largely magical According to Weberrsquos view Roman Catholicism lacks an inner-worldly ascetic ethos and the cult of saints is lsquofairly close to polytheismrsquo2

his encouragement and constructive suggestions I am also greatly indebted to Nick Barker and Smita Lahiri Both of them generously shared their knowledge with me Special thanks are due to my wife Andrea Lauser and my son Moritz without whom the research would not have been possible Th is paper is part of my more general work on self-crucifi xion and fl agellation in Europe and the Philippines It is based on anthropological fi eldwork and theory and on research in the fi elds of religious history See Braumlunlein (2003)

2 With emphasis on the sacraments Weber says ldquoOf an essentially magical nature is the view that one may incorporate divine power into himself by the physical ingestion of some divine

894 P J Braumlunlein Asian Journal of Social Science 37 (2009) 892ndash917

Despite the insight that such a view is grounded in anti-Catholic senti-ments stirred up in the 19th century rather than in sociological research my irritation persisted In the course of my research I was left with an impression that was ambiguous if not outright contradictory Th e juxtaposition of seem-ingly backward religious expressions with the success of global capitalism and communication technology was and still is enigmatic to me and to some of my Philippine colleagues To solve the problem by declaring Philippine soci-ety as lsquopre-modernrsquo or by analysing ritual celebrations during lent as forms of lsquofolk-religionrsquo are poor attempts at fi nding release from such uncomfortable contradictions Th e desire for an explanation resulted in an increasing aware-ness of the social dimension of the lenten rites under study and therefore it was obvious to recall related key questions of a sociology of religion what is the place of religion in human society and how do worldviews and religious ethics infl uence the way people behave individually and collectively How can we understand and explain the similarities and diff erences of elite and popular patterns of religious action What is the relationship of religion human motivation individual agency and social structure

Th e development of a sociology of religion is closely connected to the devel-opment of Western modernity and Christianity3 As an occidental scientifi c enterprise sociology of religion started out with the ambition to answer ques-tions about Christian churches and their place in a rapidly changing society under the premises of modernity Implicitly presupposed are specifi c concepts of religion (the belief in the transcendent soteriological doctrines concerning the salvation of the individual) and modernity (rational capitalism function-ally diff erentiated society) Sociology of religion therefore unfolds quite con-vincingly its explanatory capacity though sometimes contested and debated in the realm of Western society and its Christian traditions Th e application of such models to non-Western societies without being constantly aware of the fundamental diff erences however may be a risky venture

substance some sacred totemic animal in which a mighty spirit is incarnated or some host that has been magically transformed into the body of a Godrdquo (Weber 1965186 quoted in Hamil-ton 1998191) With respect to the doctrine of the Trinity and the cult of the Virgin Mary and the saints Weber regarded ldquoCatholicism to be less monotheistic than either Judaism or Islam which he thought was perhaps the most strictly monotheistic religion of allrdquo as Malcolm Ham-ilton summarises Weber asserted ldquoIn practice the Roman Catholic cult of masses and saints actually comes fairly close to polytheismrdquo (see Weber 1965138186 hereafter Hamilton 1998191minus192)

3 Almost all of the famous founders of the discipline of sociology of religion were deeply involved in political socio-political and theological issues and aff airs of the day Th e biases and epistemological ambiguities produced by that engagement however were rarely refl ected (see Krech and Tyrell 1995)


While sorting out my fi eld notes interviews collected stories and video-taped rituals I looked for a useful theory in just that sociological toolkit What I found were not ultimate answers but inspiring questions Questions which were already raised by founding fathers such as Ernst Troeltsch or Max Weber

My paper is an attempt to throw light on the social dimension of crucifi x-ion rituals and furthermore on the type of religious movement andor asso-ciation emerging from the activities of its protagonists It is not my ambition here to deconstruct the typologies of Max Weber or Ernst Troeltsch mdash church sect mysticism mdash or to propose a better-suited typology Instead by adopting related questions as the starting point I attempt to investigate the social forces either of consent or dissent radiating from a seemingly bizarre ritual of the literal imitation of Christrsquos death

Th e Philippine lsquoCalvary Catholicismrsquo and the Invention of Crucifi xion Rituals

Although the label lsquoCalvary Catholicismrsquo is more a creation of journalists than of social scientists it denotes clearly the character of Philippine Catholicism with emphasis on the passion for Christ represented in the images of the suf-fering son of God the Father Th e fascination with the battered and dead Christ may be regarded as a characteristic feature of Philippine lowland soci-ety Due to its Iberian heritage Philippine Catholicism resembles Spanish and Latin-American Catholicism in many respects However beyond such resem-blances it also developed its own peculiar character4 Th e textual basis of

4 It might come as a surprise that research comparing Iberian Catholicism with Philippine Catholicism be it anthropological sociological or historical is marginal if not nonexistent As well studies in the fi elds of cultural history and anthropology of Philippine Catholicism are poorly developed Th ere are no comprehensive studies on the cult of the saints and the Virgin Mary local feasts and processions pilgrimages apparitions miracles etc Most of the relevant materials published are journalistic theological or outdated Outstanding exceptions are the works of Reynaldo Ileto (1979) on religio-political movements in the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary period and Vicente Rafael (1988) on the process of vernacularisation of Christian-ity Since the late 1980s more and more research projects on Philippine ChristianityCatholi-cismpopular religion were initiated Highly stimulating are the works of British anthropologist Fenella Cannell (1995 1999 2005 2006) on popular religion in the province of Bicol espe-cially on the cult of a miracle-working saint and the study of German historian Reinhard Wendt (1997) on the Fiesta Filipina Filomeno V Aguilar provides an illuminating account of the con-vergence of capitalism and the indigenous spirit world on Negros Island (1998) Anthropologist Katharine L Wiegele studied the Catholic charismatic movement El-Shaddai (2004 2006) and Smita Lahiri contemporary forms and practices of mystical nationalism located at Mount Bana-haw (2005)


Philippine Catholicism is the Pasyon Mahal the translation of the biblical story in vernacular and in verse form Since the 18th century the Pasyon became increasingly popular especially in those parts of the country seen as the power centres of the colonisers Th e poetic form actually a peculiar inter-pretation of the biblical passion eff ectively transmitted indigenous cultural values Th e Pasyon replaced the traditional epics and as a consequence the ritual singing of the Pasyon is in use until today Without a doubt the Pasyon is the best-known text at least among the people of Central Luzon (Tiongson 1976)5

Th e most spectacular expressions of the so-called Philippine lsquoCalvary Catholicismrsquo are fl agellation and crucifi xion Flagellation was introduced by the Spaniards as a monastic exercise (disciplina) usually practised privately behind closed doors or in the churchrsquos gloom on every Friday throughout the year Th e indigenous Philippine male population enthusiastically accepted fl agellation and started to perform this bloody practice in public Th e fanatical acceptance of fl agellation even by children was surprising as religious self-mortifi cation was unknown in the pre-Spanish Philippines Th irty years after the arrival of the Spaniards self-fl agellation was already an established mass phenomenon exercised in some parts of the archipelago Th is caused the church to forbid the exercise (Chirino 1969 Ribandeneira 1947) Th e pro-hibition however turned out to be ineff ective ritual self-fl agellation has been an uninterrupted tradition for more than 350 years up to the present day6

Ritual crucifi xions however were absolutely unknown in the Philippines until the second half of the 20th century Th e fi rst Philippine crucifi xion hap-pened in 1961 it was a faith healer Arsenio Antildeosa who was nailed to a cross in the town of San Fernando His crucifi xion was performed annually between 1961 and 1976 Prior to his fi rst crucifi xion Antildeosa was a fl agellant who by crucifi xion intended to get closer to Christ closer than fl agellation permitted For Arsenio Antildeosa proximity to the dead Christ through the performance of crucifi xion was a means to acquire healing power Th e anthropologist Nicho-las Barker who conducted fi eldwork in San Fernando understands Antildeosarsquos decision to be crucifi ed in the context of a specifi c revival of religious self-fl ag-

5 Th e content of the Pasyon the story of Christrsquos death is obviously lsquoWesternrsquo and imported Th e social context and the aesthetic however are related to Southeast Asian theatre practices Ricardo Trimillos refers to a revealing analogy between the singing of the Pasyon and the Java-nese wayang kulit puppet theatre In discerning such a connection he off ers an indigenous model of theatre performances in the Philippines which is only masked by the Christian content (cf Trimillos 1992)

6 For the development of self-fl agellation in the Philippines after World War II cf Barker nd An insightful sociological study of self-fl agellation in Central Luzon and the underlying concept of panata mdash vow mdash presented Fernando N Zialcita (1986)


ellation which was evident from the 1960s onwards Th e revival of self-fl agel-lation starting in the early 1960s and reaching its peak in the late 1970s was itself clearly fostered by the Philippine media with sensational front-page headlines news reports and photographs Th e attention of the media had a direct impact on ritual performances as Nicholas Barker lucidly demonstrates in referring to crucifi xion and fl agellation in San FernandoPampanga (Barker nd)7 Th e media had become even more infl uential when I conducted fi eld-work in Kapitangan in the 1990s

Crucifi xions in the Philippines are phenomena of modernity and not cen-turies-old archaic relics Ritual crucifi xions are confi ned to a few places located mainly in the region near the capital of Manila Th e most famous places are San Pedro Cutud (in the province of Pampanga) and Kapitangan (in the prov-ince of Bulacan)

Th e observations on which this text is based were made in Kapitangan a small barangay (town district) within the municipality of PaombongBulacan the settlement was founded approximately in the late 19th century Until the 1960s its population consisted mainly of rice-growing peasants During the last decades the growing and selling of turf became a major source of income in Kapitangan Th rough the construction of paved roads in the 1970s Manila has become easily accessible As a result many people commute daily to Manila8 While economic conditions have generally worsened in the Philip-pines over the past twenty years the province of Bulacan is considered to have prospered With few exceptions most of the people I interviewed regarded themselves as neither particularly rich nor poor9

Kapitangan has been a well-known pilgrimage centre since the turn of our century In the Barangay chapel a miraculous wooden fi gure of Christ (Sto Cristo) is venerated Numerous accounts of miraculous healings are known and many cases of dream apparitions of the Sto Cristo have been and con-tinue to be reported

7 Nicholas Barker conducted anthropological fi eldwork in San Fernando in 1984 1987 1988 1990 and 1991 Barker was able to interview Antildeosa who died in 1993

8 In the 1950s and early 1960s of the last century American anthropologist Charles Kaut conducted fi eldwork in Kapitangan focussing on the socio-economic structure of the Philippine peasant society His published results and insights as well as his generous readiness to provide useful informations by e-mail messages were extremely helpful for my own study See Kaut (1960 1961 1965)

9 Almost all of the people with whom Fenella Cannell lived during her fi eldwork in the prov-ince of Bicol (southern Luzon) classed themselves as lsquowe who have nothing at allrsquo Such a state-ment is very common in the Philippines where the gap between a privileged few and the majority of those lsquowho have nothingrsquo is immense See Cannell (199915ff )


Pilgrims either seek healing by touching the body of Sto Cristo or visit the place because they have already experienced miraculous healings in the past During the Holy Week curing oil and perfumed water which were used ritu-ally for bathing the Sto Cristo is distributed for free Semana Santa pilgrims are attracted not only from the nearby area but also from the capital of Manila and furthermore from all over the island of Luzon Hundreds of fl agellants and other penitents can be seen in Kapitangan especially on Good Friday

In 1977 the local tradition of crucifi xion started with Lucy Reyes then an 18-year old girl10 On Good Friday at noon she was nailed to a cross which was erected on a temporary stage made of wood and bamboo Her crucifi xion was repeated for 13 consecutive years In the late 1980s Kapitangan increas-ingly became a place which attracts not only Philippine Good Friday pilgrims fl agellants and diff erent kinds of penitents but also journalists and tourists

Growing up in a very poor family Lucy had been a rebellious and head-strong person since her early childhood Endowed with a spirit of resistance she was fi ercely opposed to the expectations of her family Oftentimes Lucy was very sick Her sickness was accompanied by states of unconsciousness and later by states of trance Under the guidance of her aunt contact with Sto Nintildeo the Christ-child11 was established and Lucy developed healing abilities

10 On diff erent occasions when I asked Lucy about her fi rst crucifi xion she sometimes remembered 1976 as her fi rst year on the cross but sometimes it was the year 1977 or 1978 By asking friends and acquaintances of Lucy and by reading newspaper reports 1977 came out as the most probable year for her fi rst crucifi xion Th e gap in Lucyrsquos memory is not necessarily a personal fault or inability but refl ects a culturally-specifi c perception of the past Fixing and memorising events precisely in accordance with the calendar is not valued Th e process of learn-ing remembrance is culturally embedded as we learn from the work of Maurice Halbwachs (1992) and more recently from Aleida Assmann (1999) and Jan Assmann (1992)

11 In Philippine Catholicism Sto Nintildeo is the most popular and venerated image besides Jesus Nazareno Jesus carrying the cross and Mother Mary Venerated are numerous representations of Sto Nintildeo distinguishable by garments colour gesture size facial expression etc Images of Sto Nintildeo are placed on countless house altars Oftentimes they function as patron saints of families Frequently a regional type or predilection for example Sto Nintildeo de Cebu prevails Th e devotion of Jesus the Child in the Philippines dates back to late 15th century Spain In the 20th century the Sto Nintildeo cult was offi cially enforced on the occasion of Fourth Centennial Celebration of Christianisation of the Philippines (1965minus1966) Th e year 1965 was declared as Jubilee Year by Pope Paul VI and the lsquooriginalrsquo Sto Nintildeo brought to the Philippines by Magellan in 1521 was transferred from the Visayan island of Cebu to Metro Manila Novenas were prop-agated and in the 1970s a phenomenal spread of the Sto Nintildeo devotion outside Cebu was noticeable

Inspired by such observations sociologist Douglas Elwood hypothesised that there were only two dominant Christ images in the Philippines that of the Santo Nintildeo the holy child-king and that of the tragic victim Jesus Nazareno Cf Elwood (1971) for the history of the Sto Nintildeo veneration in the Philippines see Braumlunlein (2009) Takefumi (1987) and Tantildeazas (1965)


Sto Nintildeo regularly visited Lucy during her trances and since then has used her as an instrument to cure sick people

Th e aunt a childless spinster saw it as her vocation to take care of young Lucy For her Lucy was sent by God and it was her obligation to serve as Lucyrsquos lsquospiritual motherrsquo ldquoWhen Lucy came to me she was turning seventeen She was like a newly born It was as if I had given birth She was my child spirituallyrdquo she explained

Th e aunt organised the healing sessions under her guidance a core group of 12 ladies the ldquoapostlesrdquo was formed She invented rituals and taught prayers in her house henceforth the ldquotemplerdquo of a group of (mostly) female followers Th ey regularly assembled there and supported Lucy not only with prayers but also with material goods At that time Sto Nintildeo commanded Lucyrsquos crucifi xion mdash repeatedly Lucy was frightened but encouraged by her spiritual mother Finally she agreed Her whole family was shocked and the parents strongly opposed the plan but failed

For her crucifi xion LucySto Nintildeo chose the churchyard of Kapitangan Lucyrsquos house was only two miles away and the place was well known for the Good Friday celebrations As a person chosen by Sto Nintildeo and as a healer she felt obliged to visit Kapitangan frequently because the miraculous Sto Cristo is considered as the patron saints of healers

Lucy asked a group of passion-play actors called Hudyo to assist her cru-cifi xion Th e leader of the Hudyo group hesitated at fi rst and then agreed He and his men served Lucy not only as helpers with the skills to use a hammer but in arranging every detail of the event Th ey gave instructions on how to construct the stage and provided Lucy with the costume a wig the cast-iron crown and the wooden cross Dressed as colourful Roman centurions they came for Lucy early in the morning of Good Friday in 1977 Th ey accompa-nied Lucy on her two-mile lsquoway of the crossrsquo to the lsquocalvaryrsquo in Kapitangan by pulling her along beating and humiliating her At noon in front of a huge crowd two of the Hudyo hammered the alcohol-soaked stainless steel spikes through her hands Lucy fainted After a few minutes the nails were removed by vice grips and alcohol was poured on the wounds Th e motionless lsquodeadrsquo body of Lucy was brought into the chapel and laid on the altar After 30 min-utes she revived and was able to walk back to her house carrying the cross on her shoulder For 13 consecutive years Lucyrsquos crucifi xion was repeated When-ever she was asked about her motives she replied ldquoI am doing this because Sto Nintildeo told me to do thisrdquo In exchange she had been given divine power to heal the sick she said

Starting with the crucifi xion Lucyrsquos career advanced rapidly Th e number of her clients and followers grew although disputes caused the splitting of the


group quite frequently After fi ve years Lucy and her spiritual mother sepa-rated Lucy revolted against her and chose another spiritual mother who pro-vided housing food and clothes and organised her healing sessions Later a lsquospiritual fatherrsquo appeared and off ered his assistance Under the guidance of Lucyrsquos spiritual parents the core group undertook excursions to the provinces and visited pilgrimage sites and churches Th ese activities they called lsquomission tripsrsquo For Lucy a house as well as a chapel next to it were constructed Th e magnifi cent (and very expensive) image of Lucyrsquos patron saint Santo Nintildeo de Pandacan was placed inside with the help of her spiritual father After a while though Lucy also rejected his support and regulations After quarrels over fi nancial matters she decided to live independently on the compound assisted only by a close follower It is in this chapel where Lucy heals under the guid-ance of her Santo Nintildeo regularly

Soon journalists came to Kapitangan to interview Lucy Film crews also appeared and made her well known through TV documentaries Invitations to TV talk-shows followed and Lucy became famous nationwide In 1990 Lucy was nailed for the last time In the late 1990s when I regularly visited Lucy she was a respected and well-to-do woman

In the 1980s more and more people mostly females received the com-mand to be crucifi ed in Kapitangan All of them were healers all of them were in the beginning followers of Lucy scrutinising her healing techniques and the way of her crucifi xion All of them received messages from Sto Nintildeo or Jesus Nazarene and all of them considered Lucy their role model All of them claimed to have been really chosen by Sto Nintildeo or the Nazarene All of them built their own chapel where they held healing sessions under the image of their specifi c patron saint All of them compete with each other for the most authentic performance spiritual power for disciples and prestige

In Kapitangan not more than 3000 people are able to watch the events on stage Compared with the Good Friday events in San Pedro CutudSan Fer-nando (Pampanga) Kapitangan has not reached that level of attraction yet and it probably never will Located some 20 miles away from Kapitangan San Pedro CutudSan Fernando is the most popular and best-known crucifi xion site in the Philippines More than 20000 spectators are present to observe the crucifi xion of 10ndash15 persons exclusively males annually12 In Kapitangan

12 Th ere are two remarkable exceptions in 1994 a Belgian lady the 54-year old Godelieve Rombaut was crucifi ed there as the fi rst foreigner in the history of Philippine crucifi xions In 1997 Amparo Santos known as lsquoMother Paringrsquo hitherto crucifi ed in Kapitangan for ten years decided to move to San Fernando for further crucifi xions She justifi ed her decision by saying that the masses of spectators and the bigger number of the media representatives in San Fern-ando are more attractive for her compared to Kapitangan For that reason she might be able to disseminate more eff ectively her message there


between one and three persons have been nailed to the cross each year It is vital to note here that the personsrsquo underlying motifs and intentions to be crucifi ed diff er in San FernandoPampanga from those nailed in KapitanganBulacan In San Fernando a lsquovowrsquo is the dominant pattern whereas the lsquopossessiontrancehealing-complexrsquo plays the most important role in Kapitan-gan In San Fernando the ritual of nailing is embedded in theatrical expres-sive forms Especially the tradition of passion play (sinakulo) is still vital there whereas in Kapitangan all the concerned persons insist that local stage crucifi xions have nothing to do with passion play13 Nick Barkerrsquos and my fi ndings reveal two diff erent patterns of ritual crucifi xion within a relatively small area

Th e Philippine New Mysticism as New Religious Movement (NRM)

Th e story of Lucyrsquos crucifi xions her career as healer and the group around her form a pattern that fi ts perfectly into the category of the so-called New Mysti-cism Th is label was introduced by the Philippine Jesuit and psychologist Jaime Bulatao (1981 [1992]) Bulatao characterises New Mysticism as a lsquoreligious-mystical fl oweringrsquo of the post-World War II period occurring all over the Philippines lsquothough often unobserved by the offi cial churchrsquo

Summarising Bulatao (199254ff ) characteristics of the New Mysticism are as follows

(a) Th e trance state ldquoUsually without willing it she is lsquopossessedrsquo by the Holy Spirit the Blessed Virgin or some saint Typical characteristics of the trance are body rigidity with convulsive movements tightly closed eyes rapid breathing speaking in a voice and accents quite dif-ferent from the usual Th is voice follows the personality of the lsquopossess-ing spiritrsquo deep and heavy in the case of the Nazareno playful and childish in the case of Santo Nintildeo sweet but aggrieved in the case of Blessed Virgin of Fatima or the Mother of Perpetual Helprdquo

(b) Oftentimes a message is delivered during the state of trance Th is mes-sage is usually ldquoa lugubrious one about the sinfulness of men the need for repentance and the threat of foreboding calamitiesrdquo

13 Anril Pineda Tiatco and Amihan Bonifacio-Ramolete (2008) analyse the nailing ritual in Pampanga under the perspective of performance and theater studies Th ey refer to a sinakulo titled Via Crucis o Pasion y Muerte [Way of the Cross or Passion and Death] which was written 1955 by the local author Ricardo Navarro Th e sinakulo text served as drama script for the fi rst real enacted crucifi xion in the early 1960s in San Pedro Cutud Pampanga


(c) Healing is done in the state of trance by massage or the laying on of hands rubbing of oil the drinking of water blessed by the mystic or simple herbal medicine

(d) Th e mystic and their followers are for the most part faithful Catholics(e) Once a new healer appears a new social organisation starts growing

around himher A core of disciples and fi rm believers act ldquoas middle-men between the mystic and the crowds of followers as well as protec-tors against sceptics and disrupters of ritual Typically too one of the grouprsquos fi rst projects is to build a chapel in honour of the patron saint To one side of the chapel a room is set aside for consultations and for healing Th e chapel is fi nanced by donations of patients and clients No payment is demanded for healingsrdquo

(f ) Th e healer is the founder and centre of the group Ritual creativity and inventiveness is highly developed

(g) Th e group around a mystic tends to expand ldquoTh ey all speak of their urge as a lsquomissionrsquo Certain days of the week are set aside for excursions into the provinces sometimes to foreign countriesrdquo such as Guam or Australia Some groups claim a following consisting of thirty to forty thousand people others count only two dozen followers

(h) Th e movement has no centralised organisation Each group around a mystic goes on its own usually competing with another ldquoor like the Pope of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople mutually excom-municating each otherrdquo Towards the Catholic Church and its priest however an overwhelming desire for acceptance and approval is felt Th e new mystics and their followers regard themselves by no means as dissentient or heterodox

In Bulataorsquos depiction we can easily identify Lucy as a new mystic and the group around her as a typical Philippine New Mysticism group

Furthermore the Philippine New Mysticism is a facet of the so-called New Religious Movements (NRMs) a worldwide phenomenon which has mush-roomed in the industrial societies of the West in recent decades (Hamilton 1995193) New Religious Movements show an extraordinary variety which challenges and confuses sociologists of religion14

14 Th e defi nition of an NRM given by Eileen Barker is a very broad and pragmatic one ldquoTh e defi nition from which I personally start mdash for purely pragmatic reasons mdash is that an NRM is new in so far as it has become visible in its present form since the Second World War and that it is religious in so far as it off ers not merely narrow theological statements about the existence and nature of supernatural beings but that it proposes answers to at least some of the other kinds of ultimate questions such as Is there a God Who am I How might I fi nd direction meaning and purpose in life Is there life after death Is there more to human beings than their physical


By placing Lucy and her crucifi xion in the context of the New Religious Movements it is helpful to recall the famous typology church sect and mysti-cism developed by Ernst Troeltsch which identifi es the basic forms of Chris-tian organisation (cf Troeltsch 1931)15

Troeltsch explained mysticism as a religion in its own right constituted by its own set of beliefs characterised by radical religious individualism and by the goal of some form of union with God It is mysticism which Troeltsch judged most likely to fl ourish in the modern world and which he envisaged as the end point of Christianity ldquoin the sense that it drew on modern scientifi c ideas and [is] closely related to the individualism of contemporary societiesrdquo (Hall 1987155) Troeltschrsquos idea was developed further by many scholars into diverse classifi cation-schemes As a rule however those typologies only par-tially apply to most organisations16

Howard Becker developed the category lsquocultrsquo following Troeltschrsquos category of mysticism Typical for a cult is the high degree of individualism Becker distinguished the lsquocultrsquo from the lsquosectrsquo ldquoby the fact that adherents of this loosely knit and unstructured form of religious expression were little concerned with protecting their organisation but were seeking lsquopurely personal ecstatic experi-ence salvation comfort and mental or physical healingrsquordquo (Becker 1932628 after Hall 1987156)17

bodies and immediate interactions with othersrdquo (Barker 19996) However Eileen Barker does not forget to emphasise that generalising about NRMs is nearly impossible ldquoOne cannot gener-alise about NRMs Th e only thing that they have in common is that they have been labelled as an NRM or lsquocultrsquo Th e movements diff er from each other so far as their origins their beliefs their practices their organisation their leadership their fi nances their lifestyles and their attitudes to women children education moral questions and the rest of society are concerned Attempts to produce typologies have been limited and even relatively useful distinctions do not really help us to anticipate with much certainty the empirical characteristics that might follow from the defi ning characteristics of each categoryrdquo (Barker 199920)

15 Th e contrast of ldquochurchrdquo ie established religion and ldquosectrdquo a schismatic group which is in tense relation with the parental religion is not very fruitful for the analysis of New Religious Movements And in its common technical usage it promotes prejudicial understandings If we understand the church-sect dichotomy less as a taxonomy but instead as a continuum at least some problems with such a dichotomy are eliminated as Lorne L Dawson recommends (cf Dawson 1992)

16 Bryan Wilson (198290) added a third dimension of denomination between church and sect Th rough the lsquodiscoveryrsquo of New Religious Movements a fourth addition to church-sect the-ory had to be introduced (cf Barker 1982 1999)

17 Becker included in his category lsquocultrsquo spiritualism theosophy Christian science and a variety of lsquopseudo-Hinduismsrsquo linked with lsquoswamis and yogis who consent for a consideration to carry their messages to the materialistic Western worldrsquo (Becker 1932628 after Hall 1987156)


Th e emphasis on personal experience salvation and physical healing on the one hand and the characteristic weak forms of organisation on the other can be easily identifi ed among the New Mystics Unlike the sect such mysticism is not a protest-movement or schismatic group opposing the teachings of the church It is not a voluntary institution with a strong sense of distinct identity and separateness as Bryan Wilson (1970) defi nes lsquosectrsquo but a movement within the church emphasising and seeking spiritual experience

Th e New Mysticism in the Philippines described by Bulatao can be seen as a hybrid of sect and mysticism but being more mysticism than sect We have to note here that Bulataorsquos term lsquoNew Mysticismrsquo which points to New Reli-gious Movements in the Philippines might be misleading Bulatao neither explains from which source he took the term nor does he discuss the term sociologically or theologically It is evident that his use of the term resembles wilfully or not Troeltschrsquos somewhat vague category Troeltsch laid emphasis on a growing individualism whereby personal religious experience is sought independent of the fellowship of a religious community (Chryssides 19997) What is labelled mysticism in the Philippines exemplifi ed by Lucy and her group is diff erent from the common notion of mysticism Actively sought is not mystical union or inexpressible experience of oneness with God as a life-long personal project Unlike European mystics of the late medieval ages such as Heinrich Seuse (1295minus1366) or Meister Eckhardt (1260minus1328) the Phil-ippine mystics do not teach or preach about the lsquounspeakablersquo nor are they intentionally longing for such unifi cation

Instead God is viewed as the active party using a chosen person as his instrument God commands and the believers follow passively the instruc-tions from above Th is has however not to be confused with the loss of agency Mary Keller developed in her book ldquoTh e Hammer and the Fluterdquo (2002) the concept of instrumental agency which fi ts quite well in our case Instead of asking ldquoWho is acting mdash the possessed one the spirit of the ancestors or Godrdquo she asks ldquoWhat is aimed at and with what meansrdquo According to her concept the subject is used either as a hammer or as a musical instrument to be lsquoplayedrsquo and it is from this apparent passivity that the possession medium derives the specifi c ritual authority accorded him by the community

Th ere is no need to search for God his presence is taken for granted Godrsquos intervention comes fi rst and is physically felt by the chosen ones through grave sickness and pain Being nailed to the cross is the ultimate sacrifi ce a human being can off er and a person who went through it is awarded with healing power For the person undergoing crucifi xion the ritual serves as an instru-ment of empowerment18 On the cross the nailed person whose perceptible

18 With the underlying pattern we are instantly reminded of shamanistic illness In addition


painlessness proves hisher authentic calling is very close to God Th e follow-ers are attracted by healing powers which demonstrate the intimate relation-ship between healer and God

From a Weberian perspective we may consider ritual crucifi xions and the connected group of believers to negotiate charisma by self-stigmatisation Crucifi xion thus is an act of self-humiliation and a highly refi ned and eff ec-tively dramatised self-stigmatisation Th e performance of crucifi xion imitates Christrsquos sacrifi ce and through this charismatic authority emerges mdash at least from the perspective of the core group of followers Suff ering as evidence of being chosen by God transforms suff ering into salvation Th is was symboli-cally connected in early Christianity and is just as closely connected in the present New Mysticism movement Th e relationship between the suff ering and the conquest of suff ering contained and contains legitimating qualities for the early Christians and for the contemporary supporters of Lucy Reyes for example Suff ering changes into salvation stigmatising into de-stigmatising and stigma into charisma Jesus the original charismatic and stigmatic exem-plifi ed such fundamental changes of spiritual power and status by altering his position from a slave to a world-conqueror Imitating this pattern self-stigma-tising was a means to gain and institutionalise power but also to express cri-tique against power as Ebertz (1999) emphasises with respect to the process of personal-charismatic and institutional-charismatic stabilisation of early Chris-tian communities Th e lsquopathos of humilityrsquo (Demutspathos) the rhetoric of sacrifi ce martyrdom and self-denial enforces charismatic authority which is diversely illustrated in early Christianity (see Ebertz 1999139 Moumldritzer 1994256)

In crucifi xion rituals such a lsquopathos of humilityrsquo unfolds its power Th e person nailed to the cross owns charismatic authority by way of example In the Philippine context or in the context of crucifi xion rituals in Kapitangan such charismatic power is intimately connected with physical healing Self-stigmatisation is transformed into charisma which works eff ectively among the followers as healing power Illuminating in this context is the etymological connection between the German words Heil (salvation) and Heilung (healing) Th us Heil mdash salvation mdash is not an otherworldly but rather an inner-worldly concept and able to be pragmatically realised as Heilung mdash healing

In the process of stabilising the charisma the regularly performed healing ritual becomes the centre of such a group Th e healerrsquos ritual performance provides for cohesion within the community and opens the way to a lsquoroutini-sation of charismarsquo in the Weberian sense Th rough the weekly healing

the problematic categories lsquosyncretismrsquo and lsquofolk-Catholicismrsquo have to be addressed I intend to publish a paper to discuss this issue separately


performances which function as a ritual transmission of healing power or charisma the position of the healer is legitimised She uses such healing per-formances (mission trips or other activities) to secure certain powers of con-trol including the designation of charismatically-qualifi ed staff revelation through oracle trance and associated monetary exchanges

Healers who underwent crucifi xion can at least to a certain degree be com-pared to the Weberian lsquoideal-typicalrsquo prophet A prophet bases claims to lead-ership on his or her own personal powers of charisma Like the ancient Hebrew prophets Philippine healers like Lucy consider themselves to be simply tools or instruments of God Th eir orientation is this-worldly and concrete though they are motivated entirely by religious concerns Humility and insistence on their complete dependence on God are of great importance Prophets in that sense were not chosen by any formal means usually they receive a call which often they accept only with great reluctance Th is defi nition of a prophet matches exactly with the present case from the Philippines Almost all of the persons who received a call to undergo crucifi xion hesitated and resisted at fi rst At the beginning the experience of receiving a call or encountering a divine force let us call it charisma caused an internal reorientation and a radical alteration of the persons central system of values Most of the lsquochosen onesrsquo thus came into deep confl ict with their families and had to endure social humiliation until their charismatic authority was accepted at least by a few of them

Charismatic authority however is never uncontested Rivalry is part of the business and the question of whether one is really chosen or only pretending to be causes serious gossiping among followers and competition on the cross Ideal and material interests of followers in the continual reactivation of the community and the interests of the administrative staff and close disciples of the charismatic leader in stabilising their positions can promote a lsquoroutinisa-tion of charismarsquo Under certain circumstances the very same interests can lead to the destabilisation of the group and in many cases to serious quarrels As B O Long (1981) reminds us confl icts between prophets are typical and occur in many cultures (Hamilton 1998151)

Similarities between the Philippine New Mystics and lsquoideal-typicalrsquo proph-ets in the Weberian sense should not be overstated Th e Philippine healers whom I have interviewed do not aim to create a new social or religious com-munity by means of prophecy nor do they attempt to predict anything Th e basis of their religious communities is provided instead by their healing pow-ers and associated ritual activities19

19 Weberrsquos characterisation of the Israelite prophets was criticised among others by Berger (1963) and B S Turner (1974) A lucid overview of Weberrsquos concept of prophets and charis-matic authority and his critics is presented by Hamilton (1998143minus146 150minus155)


From an outside perspective the performance of crucifi xion may be regarded as the central ritual and the community around the healer as a crucifi xion cult On account of their spectacular character and extraordinary publicity cruci-fi xion rituals can be characterised as performative events designed to attract clients followers and disciples From an inside perspective however such a characterisation would be rejected A healer would argue that crucifi xion is not an act of volition Crucifi xion has no end in itself and does not stand apart since the whole life of a healer is devoted to the service of God

By applying the category of New Mysticism (Philippine style) to healers to their ritual crucifi xion and to the motivations that inspire the core group of followers we can discern a specifi c form of community within which a healer trance healing the availability of miraculous power and the veneration of a saint (Sto Nintildeo) play the most important role Th e dynamic of such commu-nities is based on the ritually gained and perpetuated stigma and charisma of the founder It is the intimate relationship between the healer and God which forms the attraction for a group of followers whereas the regular spiritual intermediaries of the Catholic Church namely priests are of minor impor-tance By claiming direct access to divine power the group and its leader ques-tion the authority of the clerical hierarchy Such an implicit protest however is in most cases neither refl ected upon nor overtly expressed nor used as a means of propaganda against the church New Mysticism is more of a poten-tial or lsquoundercoverrsquo critique20

Crucifi xions Sto Cristo and the Local Community

Beyond the core group around the mystic the eff ects of stage crucifi xion are quite diff erent Th e interpretation of crucifi xion and hence its meaning changes across widening circles of perception around the Good Friday event Until now we have maintained a microscopic focus on the inner circle the mystic and the core group of followers Let us now use a wide-angle lens

20 Joachim Wach (1944) ldquodistinguished two forms or religious protest mdash secession leading to the formation of an independent organisation and lsquoprotest withinrsquo leading to the formation of an ecclesiola in ecclesiardquo (Hall 1987156) Philippine New Mysticism can be regarded as an ecclesiola in ecclesia at least in some aspects such as imitation of liturgical forms questioning the sacramental monopoly of the church direct availability of divine power On lsquopassionrsquo as an idiom of critique and resistance in Philippine Catholicism see Braumlunlein (2008)

In early Christian communities (of the fi rst century) oftentimes the authority of its leaders was challenged by self-stigmatising ascetics Affi rming to be lsquoholy in fl eshrsquo they aimed at the removal of the elected leaders and instead claimed exclusive leadership for themselves (see Ebertz 1999145f ) Self-stigmatisation thus worked as critique of institutional power In the Philippines no person undergoing crucifi xion challenges church authority openly but expresses nevertheless implicit critique of a church being distant and lacking charismatic power


to gain some insight into discourses of consent and dissent of identity and identifi cation

By placing crucifi xion in the centre of the circle diff erent categories of observers spectators onlookers and gazers can be discerned

(a) Th e disciples and followers of the crucifi ed who are dressed in uniforms hold candles and sing songs Th ey assist the healer on his or her way through the crowd and help to bring their body down after the cruci-fi xion Th ey enjoy the privilege of greatest proximity to the crucifi ed Th ey compete however with

(b) Th e representatives of the media ie cameramen photographers report-ers on the crammed stage Journalists try to interview the leading lsquoactorsrsquo on stage before crucifi xions whenever possible and photogra-phers are constantly struggling to position themselves in the crowd to catch a clear shot of the spectacle

(c) Th e crowd of spectators on the ground is equally fi ghting for the best position to watch the main event the hammering of the nails through the hands

(d) Among the crowd there are Good Friday pilgrims whose main concern is to visit the miraculous Sto Cristo in the church Others including villagers foreign and domestic tourists are mainly attracted by the spectacle

(e) Few local inhabitants of the village of Kapitangan attend and most of these are curious children who climb trees roofs and walls

Th e actual ritual of crucifi xion arouses the emotions of the spectators Th e act of hammering the steel spikes through the palms evokes sudden ldquouuhsrdquo and ldquoahhhsrdquo from the crowd Th e shared emotional tension among the crowd however is not spontaneous communitas the experience of heightened social-ity21 Emotions are provoked simply by the spectacular aspect of the ritual In that regard crucifi xion is comparable to a thrilling circus-performance or public executions during early modern times in Europe22 Th e emotions or

21 Victor Turner distinguishes three types of communitas spontaneous existential communitas (opposite to social structure) normative communitas (attempts to preserve communitas in a sys-tem of ethical precepts and legal rules) and ideological communitas (remembered communitas in form of an utopian blueprint for the reform of society) (see Turner and Turner 1978252) None of these types can be connected with crucifi xion rituals

22 See Foucaultrsquos Surveiller et punir La naissance de la prison (1975) Foucault opens his work with the detailed and dreadful account of the quadricpartition of the assassin Robert-Francois Damiens in the year 1757 publicly performed in front of a church in Paris Th e historian Rich-ard van Duumllmen (1995) focuses on the ritual aspects of public executions in his book Th eater des


more precisely emotional identifi cation with the person on the cross the sense of compassion and the virtual sensation of pain through the work of imagina-tion can have a cathartic eff ect on spectators When I asked them after the crucifi xion about their feelings and impressions the answers varied consider-ably Doubt astonishment bewilderment explicit critique and even jokes were expressed Only a few said they were truly captivated by the events on stage and therefore could better understand now what Christ must have endured on his way to the cross

For the local population the events in the churchyard of Kapitangan and the huge crowd of visitors during Semana Santa (lsquoHoly Weekrsquo) are connected with their patron saint Th e presence of the Santo Cristo in the church recre-ates and corroborates local religious identity Most of the older people know stories or report their personal experiences of miracles caused by Sto Cristo A group of older persons regard themselves as caretakers of the Santo Cristo and feel obligated to organise the events inside and outside the church during Semana Santa

For every Good Friday pilgrim it is obligatory to enter the church to touch and pray before Sto Cristo Th e icon has to be rubbed with a handkerchief to receive healing power Since Santo Cristo is the patron saint of healers many healers are in the church treating sick people of every age Good Friday is heal-ing day While curing palm oil is distributed for free most of the pilgrims also throw pesos into the donation boxes

In the late afternoon on Good Friday the donated money is counted by a committee of the older people In 1995minus1998 the average amount was 100000 Pesos annually a considerable amount of money for a small village Apart from these donations there are further monetary gains as dealers have to pay rent to local landowners for setting up their booths along the main road Many local families also sell snacks and beverages to the pilgrims In other words Semana Santa in Kapitangan is also a signifi cant economic enterprise

Despite rising problems with garbage removal sanitation water shortages pollution parking shortages due to the continually increasing numbers of pil-grims I have never heard a single word of complaint from locals ldquoWe feel honoured by the pilgrims and tourists We welcome all of them Imagine the visitors come from all over the island of Luzon and even from far away from countries like the US Australia and Germany Th is is due to our famous patron saint Our Santo Cristo is very mighty he is guarding usrdquo most of the inhabitants of Kapitan agree Locals associate the fl ow of visitors with cultural

Schreckens Gerichtspraxis und Strafrituale in der fruumlhen Neuzeit [Th eatre of horror Judicial prac-tices and rituals of punishment in early modern times]


prestige not with environmental pollution For the locals it is Santo Cristo in the fi rst instance who attracts the pilgrims and tourists Of course every-one knows that the crucifi xions have made Kapitangan a well-known place Within local perception however crucifi xions are seen as a secondary though economically important phenomenon

Whenever I asked inhabitants of Kapitangan about the crucifi xions they signalled consent Most locals had observed crucifi xion only once in their lives23 and many know scarcely anything about the motives of the persons nailed to the cross Th e decision to be crucifi ed and the act of crucifi xion itself were never criticised nor questioned No theological philosophical or com-monsense objections were expressed However whenever materialistic motives and selfi shness were suspected to be the attitudes of some of the healers under-going crucifi xion critical comments were provoked

Crucifi xion rituals do seem to strengthen the sense of community at the local level Th is eff ect is not due to communitas evoked by the ritual itself but due to the presence of Sto Cristo Since the miraculous discovery of the Sto Cristo (probably at the end of the 19th century)24 the inhabitants of Kapitan-gan have been very proud to have direct access to Christ Many of the older generation affi rm there is no need of a priest except for basic services such as baptism marriage ceremonies and funerals In times of hardship they ask Sto Cristo not the local priest for support An intimate relationship with Sto Cristo secures salvation Th is kind of relationship contains a latent potential for heterodoxy Individual salvation depends only partly upon reception of the sacraments and acquiescence to the Catholic creed25 Th e local community of

23 Good Friday is the central and most important date for family gatherings in the Philip-pines Friends and relatives are invited and delicious food is off ered the whole day Th e place of adults during Good Friday is therefore at home Most of the local people explained that the duties of the family union demand presence Moreover waiting under the broiling sun in a crammed churchyard watching how a person is nailed through hands and feet is not amusing

24 Th e legend tells that the Sto Cristo was found under a pile of soil It was not a piece of art but relics of Christrsquos body itself Th e real bones of Christ are still believed to be inside the carved image Th e theological statement that due to the rising of the Lord no human relics of Jesus Christ on earth exist does not create any lsquocognitive dissonancersquo among the followers of the Sto Cristo in Kapitangan Th e believers simply ignore such arguments

25 In 1998 the Bishop of Malolos came up with the idea to install the church of Kapitangan as a quasi-parish church with a permanently resident priest Many of the families of Kapitangan agreed because they expected an improvement of the church services and religious education Th e infl uential group of elders however strongly opposed the plan ldquoWe donrsquot need a priest we have our Sto Cristordquo the caretaker of the Sto Cristo and a faithful Catholic told me outraged ldquoAll priests are liars they never keep their promises We are determined not to tolerate any priest in our village Th e Bishoprsquos priest will not be able to stay for a long time in Kapitangan Be sure we will stone the priestrdquo Th e fi erce outburst was not only the result of bad experiences of the past but also caused by the suspicion that the bishopsrsquo main interest is money namely the huge amount of money which is donated every Holy Week


believers although they consider themselves 100 percent Catholic is there-fore self-reliant and enjoys a certain degree of religious autonomy Th e Catho-lic Church and its priests represent institutional aspects of religious identity but do not necessarily fulfi l personal needs and creeds Th e teachings of the church are regarded as distant and out of touch with life of simple people Th e peoplersquos needs are related with their mundane existence Of interest are less otherworldly gains but the material improvement of life conditions and relief of sickness Christ the patron saint of Kapitangan acts through visions dreams and miracles For the locals he is fi rst and foremost a healer and care-taker In a neo-feudal society the patron-client relationship persists Besides the family-network which hopefully safeguards the individual against insecu-rity a mighty patron is needed Th e mightiest patron however is Christ In the case of Philippine crucifi xion rituals the literal re-enactment of the biblical passion story serves as source of power and a means for coping with powerlessness

Crucifi xions the Media and Philippine Catholicism

Leaving Kapitangan aside and analysing crucifi xions instead as media events we can discern another layer of identity discourse Shortly after World War II when the Philippines became independent and the process of decolonisation was initiated cultural and national identity was publicly debated Th e defi ni-tion and re-defi nition of culturalnational identity remains an unfi nished project until today especially for politicians and intellectuals Since religion especially Roman Catholicism is intimately connected to Philippine identity it is not surprising that passional practices like the Semana Santa rituals attract the interest of the Manila Media and thereby the interest of the educated middle- and upper-classes In the 1960s fl agellation became a visible lsquomove-mentrsquo a movement that was actually a revival26 In countless newspaper arti-cles fl agellation was interpreted as a performance of penance

Philippine nationalists who interpret the passion-complex from a Marxist perspective try to use practices and symbols of popular Catholicism for their political aims Flagellation and crucifi xion are thus perfect symbols of the misery of the rural and urban poor In squatter areas of Manila passion-plays are re-enacted by political activists in order to call the publicsrsquo attention to poverty and miserable living conditions

26 Th e revival of self-fl agellation among lower-class Filipino men started shortly after the World War II Nicholas Barker asserts that unlike other revivalist movements the revival of religious self-mortifi cation in the Philippines was not organised Brotherhoods fraternities for-mal or informal leaders are absent (see Barker nd)


Foreign media reporting on Philippine Lenten rites tend to adopt this inter-pretation Supplementary statements are added about the perilous eff ects of religion in underdeveloped Th ird World countries Maintained thereby is the image of a divided world with a few advanced enlightened secular societies opposed to the rest which is pre-modern permanently exposed to natural and political disasters and inhabited by religious fanatics27

For the politically left the Philippine passion complex is an outgrowth of the colonial past and proof of a lsquocolonial mentalityrsquo of an inferiority complex For them fl agellation and crucifi xion are obviously linked to social inequality and oppression Th is burden will vanish so they argue in the wake of growing class-consciousness Others perceive fl agellation as horrifying and barbaric but nevertheless intrinsically Filipino part of a 400-year old cultural heritage Accordingly self-induced pain and suff ering is seen as a necessary ingredient of the Filipino world view Th e term lsquoCalvary Catholicismrsquo is a refl ection of this outlook

In the 1970s and 1980s the media interest in fl agellation declined and shifted to another form of self-mortifi cation namely crucifi xion It was the village of San Pedro Cutud in the province of Pampanga which became increas-ingly popular due to its Holy Week rituals of fl agellation and crucifi xion by nailing which started in 1961 Th ere are between ten and fi fteen Cristos nailed to the cross and hundreds of fl agellants are present yearly In the late 1980s the Department of Tourism started to sponsor crucifi xions fi nancially Meanwhile multinational soft drink corporations Coke and Pepsi discov-ered the place and erected ldquoWelcomerdquo sponsorship banners and drink stalls at lsquoCalvaryrsquo where the crucifi xions take place28 On Good Friday 20000 people visiting San Pedro Cutud annually to witness the fl agellation and crucifi xion

Th rough the eff orts of the Philippine print and broadcast media a standard version of fl agellation and crucifi xion was created Th e Holy Week rituals in San Pedro Cutud served as the initial model and the standard interpretation derived from this model is applicable to any other place

On the Saturday following Good Friday in almost all newspapers of the country one can read articles on the front page like the following

San Fernando PampangaFourteen people were crucifi ed in Barangay San Pedro Cutud here on Good Friday and dozens whipped their own back into bloody pulp as the country commemorated the death of Jesus Christ nearly 2000 years ago One Japanese and thirteen Filipinos

27 See for example the TV-documentary of the German journalist Hetkaumlmper ldquoKreuzigung unter dem Vulkanrdquo [Crucifi xion under the Vulcano] (NDR (ARD-Studio Tokio) 1996)

28 See Barker nd


were nailed to wooden crosses under a broiling noon sun while thousands of tourists from the United States Japan and Europe gawked at the spectacle in Asiarsquos only majority Catholic country

Th e Catholic Church however frowns on the bloody rites which combine Catholic fervour with traditional primitive beliefs One of the men who fl agellated himself with a bamboo whip encrusted with glass shards said the rite was part of a vow he took to implore God to stop the fl ow of volcanic mud called lahar from nearby Mount Pinatubo Reaction by tourists to the crucifi xions ranged from revulsion to admiration

lsquoItrsquos nice to see but itrsquos crazyrsquo said Frank Demeyere a 27-year old native of Brussels who works in Hong Kong for a trading company

lsquoReligion drives people too farrsquo said Antoinette Bruin a 25-year old secretary from Rotterdam George Morgan a 41-year old businessman from London was horrifi ed about the risk of contracting AIDS lsquoItrsquos very interesting to understand a bit of the local culture I wasnrsquot disappointed but these people should be more careful about the HIV virusrsquo he said Local offi cials assured participants only clean nails were used

Th e 14 individuals were nailed to the cross for about 15 minutes before being brought down and given herbs to close their wounds

Roland Ocampo who has been nailed to the cross every Good Friday for the past seven years defended the practice and said he would continue being crucifi ed as part of a vow to God

lsquoI am doing this because the birth of my wife went wellrsquo he said as he winced in pain after his ordeal

Hawkers in Cutud did a brisk business selling soft drinks fried fi sh balls and wide-brimmed hats along the narrow two-lane road leading to the crucifi xion site

Th is excerpt from an article in Th e Philippine Journal (Saturday 6 April 1996) provides an apt example of how newspaper reports are produced All of these Good Friday reports so I learnt from a Filipino journalist are usually pre-fabricated Only the number of crucifi xions the names of local actors and some comments of tourists were inserted after the reporter witnessing (at least part-time) the Good Friday rites has transmitted this information by tele-phone

Th e phrase ldquothe Catholic Church frowns on the bloody ritesrdquo the depiction of fl agellation and crucifi xion as a combination of Catholic fanaticism with primitive beliefs the emphasis on vows as the main motivation for fl agella-tion and crucifi xion and the comments by non-Philippine tourists are often repeated themes

Public knowledge about the lsquotrue naturersquo of fl agellation and crucifi xions and the public discourse on Good Friday is shaped by the media Th e dis-course is ambivalent throughout Th e Catholic Church neither condemns nor condones the Lenten rituals Fascination of and opposition to fl agellation and crucifi xion are simultaneously at hand Crucial questions are raised ldquoWho are we Filipinosrdquo or at least ldquoWho are those Filipinos with the lashed and


bloody backs or nailed to the crossrdquo Semana Santa as the main religious celebration of the year and the bloody Lenten rites give occasion to politi-cians representatives of the Catholic Church and journalists to release state-ments about the meaning of Christrsquos death for the communal whole for the nation for lsquobeing Filipinorsquo Th e sense of lsquotogethernessrsquo of unity of a shared cultural heritage and destiny is evoked and affi rmed Th us cultural identity is negotiated through the interpretation of passional Catholicism

Conclusion

Inspired by the typology of Ernst Troeltsch and Max Weberrsquos ideas on stigmacharisma and his concept of the lsquoideal-typicalrsquo prophet I refl ected upon Phil-ippine crucifi xion rituals under the perspective of Christian community for-mation Th ree diff erent community formations were explored

(a) Th e community of followers around a healer Here the focus is on healing power Salvation is pragmatically equated with physical healing Th e centre of the group is a charismatic leader who regularly performs heal-ing sessions Crucifi xion is evidence of hisher complete submission to God Crucifi xion can be considered as a ritual by which self-stigmatisa-tion is transformed into charisma Crucifi xion provides charismatic authority on which the religious community is based

(b) Th e local community of believers of Kapitangan Bonds of solidarity are maintained among villagers by their intimate relationship to the local patron saint Salvation can be received through Sto Cristo Th erefore the lsquomeans of gracersquo (Gnadenmittel ) are not completely in the hands of the Catholic Church and its representatives Th e ritual crucifi xions in the churchyard of Kapitangan are interpreted as proof of Sto Cristorsquos power Th ousands of pilgrims and spectators underscore the impor-tance of the Sto Cristo and aff ord the local community with social prestige Th e sense of belonging within the local community is thus enforced by ritual crucifi xion irrespective of the motives and ambitions of the victim

(c) For the national community mdash still in the making mdash crucifi xions re-coded by the print and broadcast media serve as a focus and illustra-tion of the nationsrsquo cultural heritage Crucifi xions are not practiced in all regions of the Phillipines but because fl agellation and crucifi xions are media events they are known across the archipelago Token opposi-tion and critique of the barbaric and gruesome spectacle are a part of the public discourse on religion and modernity but Lenten rites self-


mortifi cation blood-shedding and suff ering are nonetheless depicted as components of Filipino identity

I cannot share the daring ambitions of Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch both fascinated by the all-embracing impact of modernity in constructing grand narratives on the essential structures of Christian community formation New Religious Movements defy sociological theorising and the explanatory capac-ity of the models I have used herein is defi nitely limited Nonetheless the ideas of Weber and Troeltsch enable us to widen the frame of analysis so that the peculiarity of Philippine crucifi xion and its bizarre exotic aura dissolve at least partially It has become evident so I hope that ritual crucifi xion as a localised form of Christianity inherits social forces unfolded on three com-munal levels

Fieldwork among Catholics in Kapitangan showed that the Christian mes-sage is socially realised not so much through the churchrsquos teachings but through the literal interpretation of the lsquofounding mythrsquo or master narrative of Christianity namely the passion story of Christ Th is myth allows for diff erent modes of identifi cation Identifi cation with the Christian religion is estab-lished and lsquoacted outrsquo through the passional discourse including the image of Sto Cristo Christ on the cross

References

Aguilar F V Jr (1998) Clash of Spirits Th e History of Power and Sugar Planter Hegemony on a Visayan Island Honolulu University of Hawaii Press

Assmann A (1999) Erinnerungsraumlume Formen und Wandlungen des kulturellen Gedaumlchtnisses Muumlnchen C H Beck

Assmann J (1992) Das kulturelle Gedaumlchtnis Schrift Erinnerung und politische Identitaumlt in fruumlhen Hochkulturen Muumlnchen C H Beck

Barker E (1982) New Religious Movements Perspective for understanding society New York Edwin Mellen Press

mdashmdash (1999) ldquoNew Religious Movements their incidence and signifi cancerdquo in B Wilson and J Cresswell (eds) New Religious Movements Challenge and Response London Routledge Pp 15minus32

Barker N H (nd) Th e revival of religious Self-Flagellation in Lowland Christian Philippines Available at www2hawaiiedu~milladofl agellationfolderfl agellationhtml [accessed on 30 September 2008]

Becker H (1932) Systematic Sociology on the Basis of the Beziehungslehre and Gebildelehre of Leopold von Wiese New York Wiley

Berger P (1963) ldquoCharisma and religious innovation Th e social location of Israelite prophecyrdquo American Sociological Review 28(6) 940minus950

mdashmdash (1973) Th e Social Reality of Religion Harmondsworth Penguinmdashmdash (ed) (1999) Th e Desecularization of the World Resurgent Religion and World Politics Grand

Rapids Erdmans


Braumlunlein P J (2003) ldquoPasyon Religionswissenschaftliche und ethnologische Untersuchungen zu Selbst-Geiszligelung und Selbst-Kreuzigung auf den Philippinen und im Abendlandrdquo Unpubl post-doctoral thesis

mdashmdash (2008) ldquolsquoPassionrsquo als Idiom von Kritik und Widerstand im philippinischen Katholizis-musrdquo in M Hutter (ed) Religionsinterne Kritik und religioumlser Pluralismus im gegenwaumlrtigen Suumldostasien Frankfurt Peter Lang Pp 231minus250

mdashmdash (2009) ldquoImage Transmissions as Image Acts Christian images emotions and religious conversion in the Philippinesrdquo in B Mersmann and A Schneider (eds) Image Transmission Christian Images Emotions and Religious Conversion in the Philippines Cambridge Cambridge Scholars Press Pp 11minus37

Bulatao J C (1992) [1981] ldquoTh e New Mysticism in the Philippine Churchrdquo in J C Bulatao Phenomena and their Interpretation Landmark Essays 1957minus1989 Quezon City Ateneo de Manila University Press Pp 54minus62

Cannell F (1995) ldquoTh e Imitation of Christ in Bicol Philippinesrdquo Journal of the Royal Anthropo-logical Institute NS (1) 377minus394

mdashmdash (1999) Power and Intimacy in the Christian Philippines Cambridge Cambridge University Press

mdashmdash (2005) ldquoImmaterial Culture Idolatry in the Relacioacuten de las Islas Filipinas Th e Philippines in 1600rdquo in A Willford and K M George (eds) Spirited Politics Religion and Public Life in Contemporary Southeast Asia Ithaca Southeast Asia Program Pp 159minus184

mdashmdash (2006) ldquoReading as Gift and Writing as Th eftrdquo in F Cannell (ed) Th e Anthropology of Christianity Durham Duke University Press Pp 134minus162

Chirino P S (1969) [1604] Relacioacuten de las Islas Filipinas I de lo que en ellas an trabajado los padres de la Compantildeia de Iesvs Vol 15 Manila Historical Conservation Society

Chryssides G D (1999) Exploring New Religions London New York CassellDawson L L (1992) ldquoChurchsect theory Getting it straightrdquo North American Religion 1

5minus28Ebertz M N (1999) ldquoDie Institutionalisierung von Charisma und Stigma Herrschaftsbe-

gruumlndung und Herrschaftskritik im fruumlhen Christentumrdquo in M Kruumlggeler K Gabriel and W Gebhardt (eds) Institution ndash Organisation ndash Bewegung Sozialformen der Religion im Wandel Opladen Leske amp Budrich Pp 133minus150

Elwood D J (1971) ldquoPopular Filipino Concepts of Christrdquo Siliman Journal 18(2) 154minus163Emmet D (1956) ldquoProphets and their societiesrdquo Journal of the Royal anthropological Institute 86

13minus23Foucault M (1975) Surveiller et punir La naissance de la prison Paris GallimardHalbwachs M (1992) On collective memory Chicago University of Chicago PressHall M (1987) ldquoSectrdquo in M Eliade (ed) Encyclopedia of Religion Vol 13 LondonNew York

Macmillan Publishing Company Pp 154minus159Hamilton M (1995) Th e Sociology of Religion London Routledgemdashmdash (1998) Sociology and the Worldrsquos Religions New York St Martinrsquos PressHeelas P (1996) Th e New Age Movement London RoutledgeIleto R (1979) Pasyon and revolution Popular movements in the Philippines 1840minus1910 Manila

Ateneo de Manila PressHetkaumlmper R (1996) Kreuzigung unter dem Vulkan Eine philippinische Passion Redaktion Carl

Heinz Ibe NDR [TV documentary]Kaut C (1960) ldquoProcess and Social Structure in a Philippine Lowland Settlementrdquo in R K

Sakai (ed) Studies on Asia Lincoln University of Nebraska Press Pp 35minus50mdashmdash (1961) ldquoUtang na Loob A System of Contractual Obligation among Tagalogsrdquo South-

western Journal of Anthropology 17(3) 256minus272mdashmdash (1965) ldquoTh e Principle of Contingency in Tagalog Societyrdquo Asian Studies 3(1) 1minus15


Keller M (2002) Th e Hammer and the Flute Women power and spirit possession Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press

Krech V and Tyrell H (eds) (1995) Religionssoziologie um 1900 Wuumlrzburg Koumlnigshausen amp Neumann

Lahiri S (2005) ldquoTh e Priestess and the Politician Enunciating Filipino Cultural Nationalism through Mt Banahawrdquo in A Willford and K M George (eds) Spirited Politics Religion and Public Life in Contemporary Southeast Asia Ithaca Southeast Asia Program Pp 23minus44

Long B O (1981) ldquoSocial dimensions of prophetic confl ictrdquo Semeia 21 31minus53Luckmann T (1967) Th e Invisible Religion New York MacmillanMoumldritzer H (1994) Stigma und Charisma im Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt Zur Soziolo-

gie des Urchristentums FreiburgSchweiz Universitaumlts-VerlagRafael V (1988) Contracting colonialism Translation and Christian conversion in Tagalog society

under early Spanish rule Manila Ateneo de Manila Univ PressRibadeneira M de (1947) [1599] Historia de las Islas del archipieacutelago fi lipino y reinos de la Gran

China Tartaria Cochinchina Malaca Siam Cambodge y Japoacuten y de lo sucedido en ellos a los Religiosos Descalcos Madrid Coleccioacuten Espantildea Misionera 3

Takefumi T (1987) ldquoTh e spirit cult of Santo Nino An anthropological study of popular religio-sity in the Philippinesrdquo Unpublished PhD thesis UP Diliman

Tentildeazas R C P (1965) Th e Santo Nintildeo of Cebu Cebu City San Carlos PublTiatco A P and Bonifacio-Ramolete A (2008) ldquoCutudrsquos Ritual of Nailing on the Cross

Performance of Pain and Suff eringrdquo Asian Th eater Journal 25(1) 58minus61 63minus76Tiongson N (1976) ldquoPasyon Th e best known Filipino bookrdquo Archipelago 4 1minus28Trimillos R D (1992) ldquoPasyon Lenten Observance of the Philippines as Southeast Asian

Th eaterrdquo in K Foley (ed) Local Manifestations and Cross-Cultural Implications Essays on Southeast Asian Performing Arts Berkeley Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies Uni-versity of California Pp 5minus22

Troeltsch E (1931) Th e Social Teachings of the Christian Churches New York MacmillanTurner B S (1974) Weber and Islam London RoutledgeTurner V and Turner E (1978) Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture New York

Columbiavan Duumllmen R (1995) Th eater des Schreckens Gerichtspraxis und Strafrituale in der fruumlhen

Neuzeit Muumlnchen C H BeckWach J (1944) Sociology of Religion Chicago Th e University of Chicago PressWeber M (1965) Th e Sociology of Religion London MethuenWendt R (1997) Fiesta Filipina Koloniale Kultur zwischen Imperialismus und neuer Identitaumlt

Freiburg Rombach VerlagWiegele K L (2004) Investing in Miracles El Shaddai and the Transformation of Popular Cathol-

icism in the Philippines Honolulu University of Hawaii Pressmdashmdash (2006) ldquoCatholics Rich in Spirit El Shaddairsquos Modern Engagementsrdquo Philippine Studies

54(4) 495minus520Wilson B (1970) Religious Sects London Weidenfeld Nicolsonmdashmdash (1982) Religion in Sociological Perspective Oxford Oxford University PressZialcita F N (1986) ldquoPopular Interpretations of the Passion of Christrdquo Philippine Sociological

Review 34 56minus62


and economically part of the continually-expanding capital Manila Many Bulacentildeos are working in Manila and commute daily Th ereby they increas-ingly join the middle-class Manilentildeos who tend to escape the unbearable urban conditions and settle in housing projects outside of the overcrowded and heavily polluted mega-city In many families at least one member lives abroad to earn money as for instance an overseas contract worker (OCW) a domestic helper or simply a marriage migrant Financial remittances from Saudi Arabia or Singapore are considered usual transactions Th e same counts for telephone calls from Italy or Israel Bulacan is considered as a prosperous province with a bright future not only by politicians but by the general public as well At the beginning of the fi eldwork I found myself in a setting which was anything but tribal Th e growing number of huge shopping malls daily traffi c jams (even in small provincial towns) omnipresent advertisement ban-ners advertising computer classes off ered by local high schools the spread of internet cafes where the new era of global communication was celebrated by enthusiastic teenagers mdash all these manifestations of the economic lsquotake off rsquo stood in sharp contrast to the phenomena which I intended to study in the very same area Bloody rituals of crucifi xion self-fl agellation and other forms of religiously-motivated self-mortifi cation seemed not to belong to the late modern era but were clearly relics of an archaic pre-modern Catholicism By presupposing such a perspective I have to confess frankly that I was infl u-enced by a common characterisation of Catholicism designed by Protestant polemics in 19th century Europe It declared Catholicism as an anti-modern force within the period of European industrialisation Th e anti-Catholic pro-paganda announced that Catholicism is unable to cope with modernity since it is less rational than Protestant Christianity essentially magical in nature and still propagating the cult of saints and miracles in times of social dislocation and miserable working conditions Th e portrait of Catholic Christianity as backward and medieval in character was scientifi cally perpetuated by Max Weber amongst others He considered the Catholic Communion the practice of confession and the absolution as largely magical According to Weberrsquos view Roman Catholicism lacks an inner-worldly ascetic ethos and the cult of saints is lsquofairly close to polytheismrsquo2

his encouragement and constructive suggestions I am also greatly indebted to Nick Barker and Smita Lahiri Both of them generously shared their knowledge with me Special thanks are due to my wife Andrea Lauser and my son Moritz without whom the research would not have been possible Th is paper is part of my more general work on self-crucifi xion and fl agellation in Europe and the Philippines It is based on anthropological fi eldwork and theory and on research in the fi elds of religious history See Braumlunlein (2003)

2 With emphasis on the sacraments Weber says ldquoOf an essentially magical nature is the view that one may incorporate divine power into himself by the physical ingestion of some divine








































































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62








































































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62



































































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62





























































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62























































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62















































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62








































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62

































































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62



























































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62



















































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62









































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62

































































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62



























































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62





















































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62















































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62








































28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62





























28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62






















28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62















28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62









28 See Barker nd















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62















Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62



Conclusion









References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62





References










Rapids Erdmans







































Review 34 56minus62







































Review 34 56minus62



















Review 34 56minus62

Documents

Bräunlein